Section 161-B:7 Repository for Information. - New Hampshire Statutes

   I. The department is authorized and directed to establish a central unit to serve as a repository of information, to answer inquiries concerning absent parents and other persons legally responsible for support, to coordinate and supervise departmental activities in relation to such persons, and to establish a state case registry which shall contain records with respect to each case in which services are being provided by the department, and in each case in which any support order is established or modified in the state on or after October 1, 1998. The records in the state case registry shall:
      (a) Contain standardized data for both parents and the children for whom support is ordered, such as names, dates of birth, social security numbers, and other uniform identification numbers, and with respect to those in which a support order has been established and in which the department is providing services, shall also contain the following:
         (1) The amount of weekly (or other periodic) support ordered, and other amounts, including arrearages, interest or late payment penalties, and fees due or overdue under the order.
         (2) Any amount described in subparagraph (a)(1) that has been collected.
         (3) The distribution of such collected amounts.
         (4) The birth date of any child for whom the order requires the provision of support.
         (5) The amount of any lien imposed with respect to the order pursuant to RSA 161-C:10 or RSA 461-A:14, VII.
      (b) With respect to those cases in which the department is providing services, be promptly established, maintained, and regularly updated on the basis of:
         (1) Information on administrative actions and administrative and judicial proceedings and orders relating to paternity and support.
         (2) Information obtained from federal, state, or local sources of information.
         (3) Information on support collections and distributions.
   II. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, with the exception of tax statutes, and in order to effectuate the purposes of this section, the commissioner may request cooperation from state, county and local agencies in the location of parents or other legally liable persons who have abandoned or deserted, or are failing to support a dependent child (or any other child) and information relative to the location, income and property of such parents and it shall be the duty of such persons to cooperate in responding to such requests.
   III. Any records established or information collected pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall be made available only to the commissioner and the attorney general and their authorized designees, attorneys responsible for the administration of RSA 546-B, attorneys or authorized staff employed by the department, or its contracted agents, to administer programs under Title IV, Part A (TANF), Title IV, Part B (child and family services), Title IV, Part D (child support and establishment of paternity), Title IV, Part E (foster care and adoption assistance), Title XIX (medical assistance programs), Title XX (social services block grants), or Title XXI (state children's health insurance program) of the Social Security Act, the client or the client's authorized representative, authorized court employees, and courts or agencies in other states engaged in the enforcement of support of minor children as authorized by federal law or the rules of the department. Such records and information shall be available and used only for purposes directly connected with the establishment, enforcement, or modification of child support, the department's administration of programs under Title IV, Part A (TANF), Title IV, Part B (child and family services), Title IV, Part D (child support and establishment of paternity), Title IV, Part E (foster care and adoption assistance), Title XIX (medical assistance programs), Title XX (social services block grants), or Title XXI (state children's health insurance program) of the Social Security Act, court administration of cases filed under this chapter, RSA 461-A, and RSA 546-B that are administered by the office of child support, and the administration of this chapter. The records and information made available to the client or the client's authorized representative shall not include information provided to the department that is prohibited from release by federal law, state statute, state case law, or by contract or agreement between the department and another entity if such contract or agreement prohibits release of such information.
   IV. All support orders issued or modified in cases that are payable through the department shall contain a provision requiring the obligor to keep the department informed of the name and address of the obligor's employer and whether the obligor has access to health insurance, and, if so, the health insurance policy information as requested by the department.
   V. The commissioner of the department of health and human services and the administrator of the office of child support enforcement services shall develop the data collection capacity to monitor the efficacy of child support collection efforts on behalf of households whose aid to families with dependent children (AFDC) benefits have terminated within the last 24 months or which contain a medicaid-eligible person. The commissioner and administrator shall then use their best efforts to assure that these at-risk households are encouraged to utilize the services of the office of child support services, and that the rate of child support collection on behalf of these households shall be increased and maintained at a level that is at least as great as the rate of child support collected on behalf of households that are current recipients of AFDC.

Source. 1977, 589:1. 1992, 270:2. 1994, 94:1. 1995, 252:4; 310:175, 183. 1997, 263:6; 263:7. 1998, 335:2, eff. Oct. 1, 1998, at 12:01 a.m. 2003, 198:2, eff. Aug. 29, 2003. 2005, 217:1, eff. Sept. 3, 2005; 273:14, eff. Oct. 1, 2005. 2007, 249:1, eff. Aug. 27, 2007.